Wednesday, April 30, 2014

I'd wish you a Happy ANZAC Day, but the truth of it is, it was last
week; I forgot.

It's not unusual that I would forget because a) I am mighty
busy, and b) I'm not from Australia or New Zealand where this holiday is
celebrated. But I feel that any holiday that has its own cookie is aces in my
book.

For the uninformed, ANZAC stands for “Australia and New Zealand Army Corps.” The holiday is celebrated on April 25th, and while it
currently honors all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all
wars, originally it served to commemorate the troops who fought at Gallipoli in
the Ottoman Empire during WWI.

These cookies (biscuits) are so named because, supposedly, they
were sent by wives to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil
easily and the biscuits traveled well. This is a Martha Stewart recipe, although it looks pretty
much like every other recipe for Anzac Biscuits that I found.

These biscuits are insanely easy to make, require no special equipment, and can be stirred together in a single bowl. They are crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, and addictingly delicious.

Anzac Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose
flour

2 cups rolled oats

2 cups sugar

1 cup desiccated
coconut*

1 cup (2 sticks)
unsalted butter

2 tablespoons Lyle's
Golden Syrup

3/4 teaspoon baking
soda

1/4 cup boiling
water

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper,
and set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, and coconut. Set
aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter with syrup.
Dissolve baking soda in boiling water, and add to butter mixture. Stir to
combine. (Be careful; if the butter is hot, it will bubble up considerably.)

Friday, April 25, 2014

I have no idea as to
the origin of this recipe.I stumbled
upon it, quite by accident, crumpled in the back of my recipe box.My guess is that it harkens (just hearing “harken” should tell you
it’s old) from the early '80s).A
baseball-watching friend of ours has dinner with us once a week to either
praise or bemoan the Cardinals (if you’re a sports fan, you know that we are
currently bemoaning).He loves peanut butter.He used to bring a peanut butter pie almost
weekly until finally we just couldn’t take it anymore.It’s been a year since we’ve had any sort of
peanut butter dessert.Finding this
recipe, I thought, was a stroke of fate, indicating that it was time to try
peanut butter again.

This is a very easy
pudding to make.Because of the
cornstarch there is absolutely no guesswork involved as far as cooking time is
concerned.I like that in a
pudding.It is nicely peanut buttery
without being overly so, and the level of sweetness is just right, not cloying.

Peanut Butter Pudding

1/2 cup white
sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4
teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups milk

1/2
cup half-and-half

3/4 cup peanut
butter

1
teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk sugar,
cornstarch, and salt together in a saucepan. Stream milk and half-and-half into
the saucepan while whisking constantly to dissolve the sugar mixture.

Bring the mixture to
a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring continually, for 2 minutes.
Remove saucepan from heat; stir peanut butter and vanilla extract into the milk
mixture until smooth.

Divide the mixture
into 4 small serving dishes and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Handmade Gatherings, Recipes
& Crafts for Seasonal Celebrations and Potluck Parties, Roost Books (April 8, 2014) by Ashley English is charming
from beginning to end. It was easy for me to feel an immediate kinship with
this author because I, too, grew up with parents who were always hosting or
going to parties. As a young child on the periphery, I was fascinated by all of
the preparations involved. I also loved party food (that seemed just perfect
for my pudgy little hands), and the engaging way in which it was served --
threaded onto skewers, speared by toothpicks with fancy tops, or presented in
its own individual dish that made me feel a willing participant in a doll's tea
party. This book was a little bit like reliving that delightful part of my
youth.

But there is a deeper lesson to be learned here other than just how to throw a
wonderful party with easy-to-make recipes and delightful crafts that are simple
enough for anyone to do. It is about living life, realizing that just about
anything is worth celebrating, and actually doing something about it. In short,
everyone should read this book.

How many times have you felt blissfully happy over something quite simple, say,
spotting that first cucumber on the vine, smelling the heady fragrance of the
first summer rose, or receiving a long anticipated book in the mail? For
English, these are causes for celebration.

Don't slog along through the year waiting for some traditional holiday, do what
English does and throw a party to celebrate the emergence of spring and summer,
the welcome arrival of bees, the bustle and homegrown goodness of farmer's
markets, or the soul satisfying art of canning. Each party plan
is well described and each features recipes, crafts, and table setting
ideas, all of which are very doable. The parties are all interactive with
guests, both young and old, participating along with the host, learning and
teaching, while having fun and nourishing body and soul.

When I saw the section on making up seed packets of pollinators for the party
that celebrates bees, I pulled out my instructions for making seed packets, and
rubber stamps that I will use to embellish them. My party will celebrate
Zinnias in bloom on the deck, and I'll give away packets of seeds that I have
harvested myself.

There is also a
party that celebrates canning with a craft of making jar tags that are stamped
using an inked piece of okra. As an avid jam and jelly maker (both sweet and
savory) I'm going to have a canning party as well, and gift attendees with mini
jars of my basil jelly and strawberry margarita jam. I will be trying her
recipe for quick pickled ramps as well.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Back when I had my
first job, my first real, full time,
not-Christmas-help-in-the-cosmetics-department job, I met a Greek man with a
wonderful cookie recipe. Each year at Easter, he and his wife would bake up a
huge batch of these and distribute them to everyone in the department. Because
they looked rather plain, my expectations were low, but overwhelmed by his
sincerity, I tasted one. Proof positive that one cannot judge a book by
its cover or a cookie by its rather simple appearance, these cookies were addicting.
They are also very special, not just because they came from a friend in whose
family they had been a long tradition, but for the way, through delicious food,
they can illustrate the true meaning of Easter. The shapes of these cookies, you see, are to represent the crown of thorns and nails used in the crucifixion.

This recipe makes a huge batch, but it is
considered good luck to receive them, so you will want to share them with all
of your friends.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle
attachment, whip together butter and Crisco. In a separate bowl, whisk together
eggs and sugar until thick and lemon colored. Whisk in vanilla. Combine egg
mixture with shortening mixture and beat to blend. Blend in baking powder,
salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Mix baking soda into orange juice and add all at
once to above mixture. Add milk and blend together on low speed. With mixer still running on low speed, add flour slowly. Continue adding flour until dough is soft
and pliable and doesn't stick to your hands.

Empty dough onto work surface. To shape, pinch off
walnut-size pieces and roll into a rope about 5" long and as big around as
your finger. Shape into crowns, thorns, or nails.

Note: This recipe can easily be halved, or if you
are rather clever with math, cut by thirds. The dough can be made ahead
of baking up to two days prior. The dough freezes well if you find yourself
overwhelmed with cookie baking.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Do you ever outsmart
yourself? I do it all of the time. Take last year, for example. I
shopped at Pier 1 after Easter, and was quite chuffed at coming away with a
plethora of amazing things. When I packed them away for this year, so excited
at the prospect of a truly smashing table, I told myself to be sure to remember
where I had put everything, and creating a table setting would be a breeze.
Huh. I wonder where I told myself that was. This year, all I could find
were turkeys and pilgrims. I have no clue where I put the darling bunny basket,
or the matching bunnies, the bunny ear napkin rings, or egg cups, or rabbit
plates, or anything else. Nothing. Nada.

So, it was quite a scramble to make use of what I
had to come up with something even remotely seasonal. What this proves, of
course, is that if I can create an Easter table from nothing, so can you. So get started!

Yes, this is a
centerpiece that I use a lot, but that just goes to show how versatile a thing
like this is.

The bunny tins I
purchased years ago with the idea of filling them with grass, eggs, peeps, and chocolate
bunnies, and putting them at each place setting.Then…I lost them.Amazingly I did
find them this year, but only three, so they will just have to content
themselves with peeking out between the spring grasses.

I went crazy over
these cute little cages at Michael’s.I
can picture using them all summer with nests and eggs, baby birds, and
butterflies.I couldn’t resist pressing
them into service here with peeps inside.

As you know, I’m madly
in love with these black polka dot plates. You’ve seen them here and here.I wasn’t sure whether I
liked them with this setting, so went with the Lotus plates.

The napkin fold is a
cinch.Susan at Between Naps on the
Porch has a great tutorial here.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

I make no apologies
for liking casseroles.In fact, I love
them, always have.There is something
both homey and mysterious about digging into a piping hot dish of ingredients
that I find so soul soothing and satisfying. The make-ahead aspect is another plus.Being able to assemble a dish hours prior to
baking or, in some cases, the day before, make these okay in my book.I like main
dish casseroles, lunch
casseroles, and vegetable
casseroles.This recipe was one that my mother used to
make for holiday brunches.She used to
host both Christmas and Easter brunches, the Christmas brunch she hosted for
more than fifty years.Imagine!She made this recipe with chopped green
pepper and crumbled bacon.I make mine
with spicy bulk sausage and roasted red peppers.That’s the beauty of a casserole.You can pretty much layer anything that you like,
pour an egg mixture on top and bake it, and you have a nice meal.

Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat,
breaking up with a fork, until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

Spray an 8” x 8” square baking dish with
vegetable spray. Melt butter in a small dish in the microwave. Place croutons
in the bottom of the dish, and drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle with grated
Cheddar cheese.

Crack the eggs into a bowl, whisking to break up the yolks. Continue
to whisk while you add the milk, mustard, salt, and pepper. Pour mixture over
the croutons and cheese, sprinkle with sausage, and dot with peppers.Press mixture down into the dish.

At this point it can be covered and refrigerated overnight.Otherwise, bake in the preheated oven for 35-40
minutes. Remove from oven and allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.